Early Signs

I have another trip to the puppies at New Skete today, before I have to skip visits due to music and house issues. I won't be taking them outside - that starts at 4 weeks - but they will be more active. It should be fun to see if my initial impression of their personalities from last week was correct.

When I first started handling the puppies, I was surprised by how early a basic personality appears. At just three days old you can already see whether a dog is a big compliant wad of fur or a more "active" (challenging) personality. Details like how noisy they are take a couple of weeks to show up.

Back from the trip now, a few hours later, and my first impressions of the current litter are holding. The white ribboned female is the biggest and the most responsive to human attention of the three. Yipping converts to quiet very quickly upon hugging her close - and she can yip.

They are distinctly bigger than a week ago, but they are still at a stage where the heads and bodies aren't quite in proportion yet. They remind me of fuzzy cone heads when I hold them up to blow on their face.

The breeding kennels were loaded. Lila and Petra were still there, Bella was newly arrived for breeding and Xenia, the mother of red, white and blue puppies, was catching a break from the kids. Dux, a large male trained as a therapy dog that is also in the breeding program, was in a kennel around the corner. Everyone got a walk, though Dux was more distracted than usual because of the females in heat. I earned my fattening breakfast this morning.